Russian paper: Villagers ID Russian suspect in UK poisoning

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's respected Kommersant daily has interviewed residents in a small village in the Far East who have identified one of the suspects in the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain as a senior Russian intelligence agent.

On Wednesday, an investigative group in Britain named Bellingcat said one of the two suspects in the March poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the U.K. is in fact Col. Anatoliy Chepiga with the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, who in 2014 was awarded Russia's highest medal.

Kommersant on Thursday interviewed several residents of the village where Chepiga's family used to live as saying that Chepiga is the man identified by the British as one of the poisoning suspects.

Russian officials have denied any role in the poisoning in the English city of Salisbury.

This undated handout file photo issued by the Metropolitan Police shows the Russian National named as Ruslan Boshirov. An online investigations group has published what it says is the real identity of one of the prime suspects in the Salisbury nerve agent attack. The investigative group Bellingcat says it has identified one of the two suspects in the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy as a highly-decorated colonel of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU. Bellingcat said Wednesday, Sept. 26 that the suspect whose passport name was Ruslan Boshirov is in fact Col. Anatoliy Chepiga. (Metropolitan Police via AP)

In this frame grab dated June 24, 2017, taken from Russian Defense Ministry official web site, an aerial view of an entrance to Russian Far-Eastern Higher Combined-Arms Command military academy in Blagoveshchensk, Russia. The British investigative group, Bellingcat, said Wednesday Sept. 26, 2018, that it has identified one of the two suspects in the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in the U.K. as a highly decorated colonel in the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, saying that he graduated from the academy in Blagoveshchensk. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo of Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016 taken from Russian Defense Ministry official web site, military students stand during a visit of foreign military attaches as they visit the Russian Far-Eastern Higher Combined-Arms Command military academy in Blagoveshchensk, Russia. The British investigative group, Bellingcat, said Wednesday Sept. 26, 2018, that it has identified one of the two suspects in the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in the U.K. as a highly decorated colonel in the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, saying that he graduated from the academy in Blagoveshchensk. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

FILE - In this video grab provided by the RT channel on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018, Ruslan Boshirov, left, and Alexander Petrov attend their first public appearance in an interview with the RT channel in Moscow, Russia. The investigative group Bellingcat says it has identified one of the two suspects in the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy as a highly-decorated colonel of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU. Bellingcat said Wednesday, Sept. 26 that the suspect whose passport name was Ruslan Boshirov is in fact Col. Anatoliy Chepiga. (RT channel video via AP)